A Dinner To Remember (open)

When the hour for dinner had approached, Adora was yanking out her arrows from one of the targets at the archery range. The evening was close to falling, and even though the sky was blue, the sun had begun to cast an orange glow on her surroundings. Five. Six… Eight. She counted mentally, using the last reserves of her strength to tug out the arrows from the canvas target. No matter how many arrows she returned to her quiver, there always appeared to be more the next time she looked. She would have to investigate that later, but for now, she’d simply continued to count them.

After she had gathered the last of her arrows, she wiped away some of the sweat off her forehead and let out a heavy sigh. This was her second day at camp and it had been incredibly tiring for her. She wasn’t used to schedules. The idea of having a set time for everything never appealed to her, but she supposed that she’d have to choice but to get used to it. After all, it would be rude to expect that everything here would suit her. She had determined that she was living a fairytale, but she knew that every protagonist had to undergo training before they became heroes and perhaps this schedule was part of hers; to teach her to be more organized. It’d take time, but she’d adjust.

So far she’d gotten a pretty good idea of how things worked here. Adora would have learned a lot more had she taken the time to talk with Chiron, but she really hadn’t gotten the chance yet. She did see Chiron, though, from a distance, and the sight of a centaur made her so excited that she screamed and ran in the opposite direction. It wasn’t a scream of fear, just enthusiasm. Perhaps that made it a bit more polite.

But still, she was going to ask more questions –she was determined to do so- and so far she’d caught on to the schedule pretty well. She’d practiced archery, did some sword fighting, heard some stories read aloud, and gained a general idea of where everything was in the camp. She was pretty good at blending in with the rest of the kids, and no one questioned her. At 4:00 were the canoe races and swimming practice with the Nereids, but for these she quietly slipped away from the crowd for that and decided instead to practice her archery a bit more instead. She wouldn’t be caught dead in a boat, and now, an hour later, she was at the archery range, putting all her arrows back in her quiver and tidying up the spot she’d used to shoot.

A distant horn sounded and alerted her to the timing. By the time she’d approached the Mess Hall, almost everyone was sitting down and had already started eating. Late, as always. You’ll need to do better than this. She thought to herself with a faint chuckle, glancing around for an empty seat. She knew she was supposed to sit with the Hermes kids, and so she found a seat over there and took her place, squished between two lively campers.

She was absorbed in her thoughts during the meal. She had heard some mentions of capture-the-flag through out the day, but at the moment she wasn’t really paying attention to any particular table. However, admist the strange mix of loud and quiet, her ears picked up on Sych reading aloud. She lifted her eyes from the table and joined some of the other campers in looking over at him. She’d heard a bit what he was saying, but she immediately knew that he was speaking another language, and from her vague studies in language she knew he was speaking Russian. Curious. What was he saying? Was he reciting poetry? She hadn’t the faintest idea. But the fact that he spoke out of nowhere was very curious to her, and as he returned to his notebook she discreetly kept her attention fixed on him; seeing what else he was going to do that would reveal anything about his personality.

As everyone around her ate and conversed, Adora lifted her glass of water to her lips and resumed her observation of the curious boy seated at the Athena table. He just kept writing and writing. He was probably on his third page of his notebook by now, and he didn’t give any sign of stopping. Whatever is he writing about? She tilted her head to the side curiously and hunched over the table slightly, placing her glass down and digging into her Jicama salad once again.

At the present, everything around her seemed like a normal mess hall environment. And then that one conversation began to arise out the rest. She shuffled in her seat and kept her eyes fixed on her plate, pushing some of her salad around with her fork. Gossip was bad enough, but it seemed that what these two kids were discussing was less of a conversation and more of an announcement, and it was beginning to wear on her patience. With her head still facing downwards she lifted her eyes towards the Ares table, a faint golden flame lighting them up. The rest of her table had quieted down and done the same, and that said something about the Hermes kids. Even the pranksters knew when teasing was taken too far.

But Adora wasn’t one to sit idly and throw dirty looks. No one deserved to be critisized, especially in front of the whole camp, and for a moment she felt an urge to get up and confront the two; peacefully, of course, but she wanted to confront them nonetheless. A flashback grew brightly in her mind: She was crouching on the porch of her house, nursing a bloody nose gained from a poorly chosen, but a very necessary, fight. She saw her mother kneeling in front of her, the golden glow of the sun softening her silhouette. A warm smile played on Cathy’s face as she gently dabbed clean the blood that was running from her daughter’s nose. “You have a bold spirit for one so mild, Adora.” Her voice was so incredibly calm and free from judgment, it almost made the pain of her bloody nose fade. “Your heart is a good thing to follow, but be prepared that it might lead you into trouble.” Her mother’s voice echoed slightly, fading more and more until Adora was back in the present moment, sitting down at the same table with the same two Ares guys in front of her, blabbering away about stuff they really shouldn’t have been talking about. This happens all the time in schools, One voice sounded in her mind. But that doesn’t make it right, the other retorted.

She set her fork down and after gently placing her hands on the table, she began to rise from her seat. When she was halfway up, that was when Sych came back with his response. She stayed in the same position and her gaze flickered between Sych and the two Ares boys. She shouldn’t have found it so amusing, but the look on their face was really hilarious. She held her breath at the tense moment of silence that occurred between the two, eventually exhaling when the Ares boy stormed out. Letting out a relieved sigh and restraining a few chuckles, she sat down and reclined back in her seat, crossing one leg over the other as she observed the Mess Hall burst into commotion. She cast a brief glance at Sych. Good for you, she thought with an almost proud smirk plastered on her face. She stayed quietly at the table as everyone got up and congratulated him. She would wait her turn, and after the Mess Hall had quieted down for the most part, she thought she’d go up and share her thoughts.

She rose from the table as the Hermes kids began laughing at Sych’s response and made her way over to the Athena table. She saw that the boy was writing in his book again, no, wait… he was drawing. How cool! She absolutely couldn’t help herself; she just had to peek over at what he was drawing. As she walked up she caught a quick glance at his sketch and smiled to herself. He was pretty good, too. But, of course, she didn’t want to be seen as a snoop and so she picked up her pace and approached him, inwardly hoping he didn’t notice her being curious. “It’s a skill to resolve a conflict without actually taking to the sword-fighting ring.” She said. She crossed her arms and smiled at him calmly, “Nicely done.”

   Her eyebrows shot up and faint wrinkles of surprise grew on her forehead. Now that was interesting. He hadn’t spoken to her for two minutes and so far he revealed that he not only knew her name –which anyone scarcely knew, let alone remembered- but he also knew that she was watching him, despite how discreet she tried to be. All this time she thought she was being the sneaky one, when in fact, he was one up on her and she had no idea of it!
   A surprised smile replaced her previously stunned expression. That was really impressive. Or, she thought, perhaps she was just being far too conspicuous in her observations. Either way, she was quite impressed and the half-smile that grew on her face revealed that.
   “You seem to already know me.” She said with a faint chuckle as she shook his hand, letting her own fall to her side, “It feels almost rude that I can’t say the same of you, Sych.”
   She looked over his appearance, and even from a quick glance she wondered how anyone couldn’t guess his godly parent. He looked like a child of Athena above all else. His tall and slim physique and his mannerisms and even his demeanor only gave further evidence of that. She had to admit that for a moment she felt a bit intimidated. Sure, she loved learning and her grades were always pretty good, but she’d never considered her knowledge anything grand, and this guy radiated intelligence. He already seemed to know more about her than she knew about him, and they had hardly spoken, and that had left a bit of an impression on her. That didn’t bother or embarrass her, but still, she had to admit that she felt a bit smaller in his presence. She would have thought about it more, but for the present she thought it best to direct her thoughts on him, and not on herself.
   “Memory…” She mused aloud, “Now that’s a curious nickname.”
   A brief moment passed where she wondered how he got it, and suddenly the words of the two Ares boys popped into her head: He even knows your name and a whole bunch of personal information. Whether she wanted it to or not, her mind began to drift. Being a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, she’d often tried to pick up things about people before she’d met them. Now, what was the most important thing needed to do that? Observation. Was that the key to Sych’s impressive knowledge? But then again, he was a child of Athena, so intelligence and observation were both inherent and amplified within him.
   All these clues surrounded her, but she didn’t quite put anything together. She’d need to get to know him better before she would be able to figure out anything more. Adora was still baffled that he knew her name, but unlike the Ares boys, she didn’t feel creeped out or threatened by him. The new things she was learning about Sych just added to her curiosity, and she found a faint admiration growing within her.
   She wasn’t nervous or shy in the least –at the present her curiosity was stronger than any of the reserve she normally would have felt speaking to someone so intelligent- but she still found the movement of the pencil somewhat relaxing and kept her eyes fixed on it as she pondered the quote. Quotes were a passion of hers, just as literature was, it didn’t take her long to understand the meaning of it.
   She nodded her head as a faint smile flickered over her lips, “I believe so.” She lifted her chin slightly and responded in a mild and unassuming tone, “Even an appearance of cheerfulness may hide a broken heart.” She actually sympathized with that quote, and though she wouldn’t reveal to what extent, she sincerely did think it a beautiful expression. She broke her gaze away from the pencil to glance over at him, her smile still present on her face, “I’m not surprised that I haven’t heard it before. I don’t speak Russian after all, but,” she gestured to his notebook, “I see that you do. How did you learn?” She inquired quietly, a passionately curious look gleaming in her eyes despite her calm tone.

She nodded softly, understanding his point, “That is true. I did only arrive the day before yesterday, so I suppose you have the honor of being one of the first to greet me into camp!” She laughed lightly, hoping her comment sounded like a joke and didn’t come across as arrogant as it sounded. Adora cast him a calm smile as her laughs died down, “Well now that I do know your name, I suppose I would only be rude if I forgot it and I promise not to do that.” For once, it struck her how different his name was. Sych. It was a curious name. She inwardly wondered what it meant and kept her ears open for anything that might hint towards it’s meaning.

Despite the prevalence of the rumors spreading through the camp, she hadn’t heard a single one of them. Perhaps it was because she purposefully tuned them out, was so absorbed in her own excitement, or had just stayed away from everyone for the majority of the day. But in any way, she hadn’t heard a single thing about Sych before, and she preferred it that way.

Gossip was an ugly word to her. If she was going to get to know someone, she would be the one to learn about them. An impression about a person was a serious thing to her, and Adora wouldn’t be one to meet a person before she met them or judge them before she had actually come to know who they really were. Besides, if beauty was truly in the eye of the beholder, than she couldn’t rely on the words of others to form her opinions. She had to learn to do that herself and she had; one could say that it was a strength of hers.

Since she hadn’t heard any of the negative gossip about Sych, or any gossip at all, she found herself forming a fresh opinion of him, and so far it was quite a positive one. He was a riddle to her, a riddle that she hoped she could figure out after getting know to him better. Even still, despite all the hints he dropped and the clues that she had actually observed, she hadn’t put together anything more about him or his talents. It would take her a bit of time before she could. A bit of time and also a bit more observation, which wasn’t really her strongest point.

She straightened out some of the wrinkles from her multicolored pastel skirt and looked up at him, raising her eyebrows slightly in response to his comment. She didn’t give it much thought, but even though she didn’t hate being wrong, she enjoyed answering correctly and so felt good at hearing his praise. She didn’t feel terribly strongly about it, but there was a small sense of confidence that came in her whenever she said or did something right, and for the moment she basked in it, however faint it was. Some might have felt it childish, but then again she had the heart of the child, and wasn’t really inclined to be proud. Besides, she was able to share her love of quotes! Most people around her, besides her mother, found the ones she liked too deep or just plain confusing, and so she really wasn’t able to express her thoughts on them much. But now she'd met someone who liked quotes just as much as she did, if not more, and that subconsciously brought a bright smile to her face.

Casting a glance at her hands and then looking back at him, she shook her head with a faint but slightly sad smile, “I’m afraid not. I’ve never traveled. But I have read about Russia and watched a couple of really interesting documentaries; it seems like a beautiful country.” Wait, he’d said he was born in Russia, so logically that meant his name was Russian. Aha! A clue! She wanted to ask about it and perhaps this was an appropriate time too. Besides, that was a discreet way to learn more about him, wasn’t it? “Sorry if it's a bit off topic, but your name is pretty unique. Does it mean anything special?” She asked.

   Her blue eyes followed the apple as it was handed to him, “Do I sense a threat behind your words?” She asked with a teasing laugh, her eyes glinting playfully as she observed his reactions. She probably would examine this moment later in time and realize a hundred things that wouldn’t occur to her now -and she probably wouldn’t feel too happy about the obvious things that were slipping her by- but at the present she was so focused on learning more about Sych that she completely tuned everything out except for what details she could gather about him. Usually she gathered details and her mother would help her to see the bigger picture behind them, but with her mother gone for the present she’d have to learn to do that on her own. She inwardly hoped that she wasn’t boring him, but she trusted that if she was he would tell her. He seemed honest and she sincerely hoped that he would say something if he found her dull.

   She nodded softly and cocked her head to the side, her curls bouncing over her shoulder, “Your name suits you, Sych. As regards mine, my mother always made sure I knew what it meant.” She answered as a grin brightened up her features, “It means beloved, or gift. Of course, when most of your classmates are named Joe and Hillary and Frank and Jessie, Adora is different and… I suppose I should have guessed there was another reason behind it other than my mother being her unique self.” She glanced away at the sunset with a softer smile and then looked back at him, “But yes, my Mother and I are pretty close.” She nodded to herself in complete understanding of his statement about how he felt about his godly parent, and it had actually planted a small seed of thought into her own mind. She wondered if she ought to have asked if he’d ever met his mother, but she thought that perhaps that might have been too personal as so passed over the question. Maybe I could ask later...

   Sych’s question about her father caught her slightly off guard, and her previously warm and happy expression quickly faded and changed into that of far-away thought. As soon as she was claimed, she’d spent the majority of her day researching who Apollo was and at first he didn’t seem like such a bad person. Actually, she felt a rush of excitement and pride swell in her as she learned about him; her father was not only a god, but he the god of music and poetry and art and healing and mice? She loved mice! Mice and everything else on that list so yes, she was really excited! She was going to get a T-shirt and a hat and one of those giant foam hands they sell at the sports games and all the things that would identify her as a daughter of Apollo and she was going to wear them…. everywhere. Of course, books can only tell you so much about a person and Adora did happen to stumble across his incident with the satyr Marsyas. Her viewpoint about Apollo changed after she read that, and even if she didn’t admit it, she shuddered when she looked at pine trees. Ew. Reading that story really put a damper on the pride she originally felt as being a daughter of Apollo and she decided that perhaps wearing even a T-shirt in his honor might be a bit too much. But really, she didn’t know how she felt about Apollo, and Sych’s point about her never meeting him just confused her further.

   But then again, all the gods had done terrible things and she didn’t quite admit it aloud but… she didn’t think they were all that. Sure they had power and powers, but they were plagued with the same vices that humans had; how godly could they really be? Of course, there was Hades and Adora had a completely different opinion of him than all the other gods, -why couldn’t she have been a daughter of Hades?- but still, there was good in everyone, even the gods. And she was determined to find the good in her father. Her mother had told her to do that anyways. “Well...” she started, about to express her thoughts and how she honestly felt about the whole situation, but suddenly she paused, for the first time actually picking up something about Sych. It was something about his expression, something about the way he leant back and watched her that suddenly caused a thought to click in her head. He’s saying this for a reaction, isn’t he? She wasn’t quite sure what kind of reaction he expected, but she wasn’t about to reveal her true self just yet.

   She began speaking again, but this time she assumed a different air, “Well, I suppose if he’s listening right now, I can’t say anything against him, can I? I won’t get mad at you for being honest, but I can’t speak for Apollo and I suppose I ought to be on good terms with my father so I don’t have to worry about him vaporizing you!” She joked with a chuckle, shifting her weight to her other foot as she rested her hand on her hip, “But, annoying or not, he is my father after all, so I suppose I must defend his honor. He’s the god of poetry, so he can’t possibly be that bad! Have you ever heard one of his poems? They’re probably fantastic; most people nowadays don’t know true poetry, so I don’t quite go by opinions, unless they are from someone who appreciates quotes and the like, such as yourself.” She inclined her head forward slightly, an intense interest radiating from her, “Hence, if you don’t mind me asking: What are your thoughts about him?”

As he spoke, Adora found her eyebrows rising slightly in delighted surprise. He knew English, Russian, and French? How impressive! Her surprise would only be accentuated when she found out he also spoke Spanish, but at the time he was speaking in French and she was quite impressed by that. She noted his frown, and even though Adora had never experienced it herself, she’d seen her mother get frustrated with herself far too many times before not to pick up on it. Her dark eyebrows furrowed slightly, But he sounds so good. How could he possibly be annoyed? It didn’t quite make sense to her, but regardless, his French sounded good to her and she thought that he ought to have known that. “You know far more French than I know, but from my limited experience with it your accent sounds pretty spot on to me.” She encouraged, a kind smile lighting up her soft expression.

Though it was limited, she had some experience with language before. If it wasn’t from her studies of them, the best movie adaptations of her favorite stories were often in other languages, so she usually watched those. As silly as it was, that actually helped her pick up quite a bit. It just so happened that her favorite TV series happened to be in French, but although she picked up a few expressions and phrases, she didn’t really know it as fluently as she wanted too and so scarcely understood what Sych was saying. When he translated, she subconsciously nodded in appreciation.

She’d really loved languages, and she actually felt quite strongly about learning them, but whenever she tried she could never really focus enough to learn them fluently. She was far too flighty and she wished she could have been a bit more self-disciplined. Sure, she could say, ‘Long live the Revolution!’ in about four different languages, but that wasn’t really helpful in her everday life. She shook her head softly as she continued answering his question, “I have picked up a few phrases from other languages here and there, but fluently, I only know English and of course, mi lengua materna -my mother tongue- Spanish.” She replied with a playful wink.

Adora’s grin reflected his own and she listened to him carefully as he spoke about his view on names. She loved symbolism and hidden meanings, and names were a fascination of hers, so she was thrilled that Sych felt similarly to how she felt about them. “I completely understand, and truly, it is a bit disheartening!" She chirped brightly, "I don’t think people take the time to look into the names of their children anymore. If a name sounds good, or unique, then they think it suits their children but I’ve known so many people with names like, Sophia or Elizabeth or like you mentioned, Alexandria, but their personalities scarely fit. I can understand that sometimes a child may look like an honest little angel when their a baby, and though a name meaning ‘honesty’ might suit them at the time, as they grow older they may outgrow the meanings of their names. I can understand a little bit. But really, can you name your child Blake if you’re certain they are going to be blonde? I even met a girl named Freya who hadn’t the faintest idea that her name came from Norse mythology!” She let out a light laugh, shaking her head as she gently rested her hand on her hip, "But then again, it's the same with language. We use words now-a-days that are far different from their original meaning. Like, 'terrific' for example."

Perhaps she ought to have been offended, hearing Sych speak about her father so candidly, but instead she simply watched him more intently, a strange sort of respect growing within her. There were different kinds of bravery. The kind of bravery that was most commonly came to mind was the loud and bold kind; the kind that moves a person to run into a burning building to save someone else or to face a monster in the face of crippling odds. But to speak one’s mind, knowing well that your opinion might differ from others, or worse yet, make you enemies; that required a quieter kind of courage. Even the boldest and most courageous people didn’t always have that kind of bravery, and even if she didn’t always show it herself, people who possessed it always intrigued her. Or, speaking so openly could have just been a sign of arrogance, but in Sych’s case, Adora perceived it as the former, and so her admiration of him grew. This growing esteem made itself evident by the smile that trickled over her face as he spoke, but his question quickly caused her to be aware of it, so she quickly wiped her smile off her face and focused on his question.

Was she afraid of her father? She had been at first, but then… Apollo was her father. He would never hurt her, would he? But then, she did read about Marysas. Adora shuddered at the thought and quickly shook her head. Considering everything she’d read, in addition to what Sych had said, she concluded that being his daughter wasn’t really enough to defend her from the anger of her father. Even so, she wasn’t afraid of Apollo and if he had done something wicked worth mentioning she wouldn’t have been afraid of speaking up about it -not in the slightest- but considering how much she hated conflict and how highly she valued respect, she was still reluctant about sharing her views about him. It took her a while to form a definitive view of a person, and she scarcely shared what she thought about someone, especially if she’d never even met them. When it came to Apollo she trusted what her mother had told her above all else. However, Sych’s honesty about his own thoughts of the gods motivated her to open up a bit more about her feelings and even though she didn’t really show it, she agreed with Sych’s views, however controversial they might be among the superstitious camp. “You are correct. I don’t disagree with you in the slightest. What was it Voltaire said? ‘To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.’? I suppose that makes sense when you consider just how ardently the Greeks made sure that they didn’t offend their gods.” She remarked with a nod and a gentle tone, her air becoming a bit more genuine even though she still held some reserve. Lifting her chin slightly, she shook her head with confident smile, “But the gods don’t rule over me. I’m not afraid of Apollo, but he still is my father, and until he completely loses my respect, I’ll keep showing it to him by not sharing every negative view I have of him. Despite my initial anger at the emotional state his disappearance caused her, my mother always told me there was good in him and even though it isn't always easy, I believe her. So, despite his flaws -and I do agree with you that there are many of them- I still think there has to be something positive in him.” She tilted her head to the side and examined his expression with a calm curiosity, “Do you?”

Regardless of what he answered, she clasped her hands behind her back and shifted her weight to her other foot and quickly continued speaking, “At least your mother is among those who don’t annoy you as much as Zeus and Apollo do.” She mused with a faint chuckle, thinking about that for a moment. He said that he didn't really interact with his mother enough to form a bad opinion of her; thinking that perhaps this was a good time to ask the question she was curious about, Adora looked up towards Sych with a grin, “Did you ever meet her?”

She listened to him with a thoughtful expression as he spoke. Sometimes it was a difficult thing to differentiate fear from respect. Adora struggled with that herself for quite a long time, but once one understands the difference, it frees some part of them. She wasn’t surprised that Sych had already understood that; he was perceptive and had a strong personality. She admired that about him, and as he continued to speak, she nodded to herself slightly.

Earlier on, she had been confused on how to feel about the gods. At this early point, her opinion could have shifted either way; either to admire and respect them, or to resent them and try to usurp their rule. Either way, she would have to have had to see them for who they truly were first, and considering the little knowledge she had of them, that would take her some time to do. From what she had heard so far, however, she had been able to form a few opinions, and if it hadn’t been because of her inner desire to find the good in others and to maintain peace, she might not have been too far away from planning some sort of peaceful uprising. It wasn’t all the gods she disliked, but only those that wielded their power selfishly, and it seemed to her that those were the ones who were in charge of everything. But still, Sych’s viewpoint was the one that seemed most reasonable to her, and as she carefully listened to him, she decided that it was one she wanted to adopt. And too, she liked that quote he used. She mentally made a note to remember it.

Adora smiled to herself as Sych explained how he met Athena. That was pretty neat. She’d been asking around all day as to how everyone met their godly parents, and for those that had, it was usually during some sort of emergency or some vitally significant event in their life. But the fact that Athena just popped by without any real reason too was pretty neat and earned her a point of respect in Adora’s eyes.

Still, Adora couldn’t help but be curious about the obscure advice Athena gave to Sych, and for a brief moment she debated on asking. Would that be rude? No, he mentioned it and maybe that meant it was polite to ask? Adora shook her head slightly, deciding that it wouldn’t be too improper. A curious and yet playful half-smile curled the corner of her mouth as she cocked an eyebrow, “Might I ask what that cryptic piece of advice of was?” She asked.

So he even knew that this was her second day at camp? She grinned at that. At this point, she ceased being surprised. Of course she still really, really wanted to know how he could be so observant, and still kept on the lookout for any hints as to how he knew so much, but she wasn’t as shocked as she’d been when he’d first spoke to her. She still thought the answer to his vast knowledge relied on observation and his being a son of Athena, but the other clues she had subconsciously picked up as to his talent were still pointlessly floating around in her mind.

“Well, they’ve been pretty nice and from what I’ve seen so far I’m having a grand ol’ time!” She exclaimed with a light laugh, gesturing with her hand as she spoke. To be honest, the day had been quite tiring for her, but it was so many other positive things that she could focus on. She decided to neglect mentioning the fact that she was having difficulty with adjusting to the schedule; that wasn’t really a necessary detail to include, was it? She continued, putting her hand to her chin in thought, “Let’s see… so far, I’ve been able to train with historically accurate recreations of Ancient Greek weapons, I’ve found that mythological creatures and stories are real, and I get to be graded on how well I would do as a Grecian hero. That beats any college course I’ve been looking at!”

She laughed yet again, and as her laughs quieted down her smile softened and her tone took on a more honest air, “It’s an adventure to say the least. Here I have a place to really invent myself -to be myself- and it’s the first time I’ve ever been out of Arizona, so there’s another thing. Basically, being here has made a whole lot of my dreams come true.” Her eyes flickered to the ground, “Still, I know there’s some dark side to this whole situation. I’ve even heard some mention about a certain Charlie, and what he’s been doing to the camp, so I know this isn’t exactly the perfect dream I’d think it to be. But still…” she lifted her gaze yet again, confidence radiating from her, “It’s a good experience, and I’m glad I’m lucky enough to have it.” She didn’t like talking about herself too much, as so she decided to shift the conversation in pretty much the same way he had, “But enough about me; how did you first feel when you came here? I assume you aren’t as new as I am.” She teased lightly, her playful smile still plastered on her face.